


Fan the Flames

by QuartzRabbit



Series: A Hundred Deaths [1]
Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Gen, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-02
Updated: 2015-12-02
Packaged: 2018-05-04 12:04:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5333468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuartzRabbit/pseuds/QuartzRabbit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tsuna knew the inevitable, and the inevitable came.</p>
<p>Or, Tsuna has the ability to look at parallel worlds, and knows his future.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fan the Flames

Tsuna knew he wasn’t ordinary. Ordinary boys didn’t trip over nothing, weren’t relentlessly bullied, weren’t ridiculously awful at school, and had friends.

_Ordinary boys didn’t dream of themselves being violently murdered, night after night._

But that was okay. He still had his mom, and when it got too bad, he could hide in his room and play video games. He wasn’t anything special, but he had heart. At least his mom said so.

_What use is heart, when all there is to do is die?_

Tsuna knew a lot of things he shouldn’t. His father was in the mafia, and one of his ancestors had founded a mafia family. He knew of the baby-who-was-a-man, who sacrificed a chance to return to his true form in order to teach.

_Tsuna knew what having a flaming hand shoved through his chest felt like._

He also knew he would not become Vongola Decimo or Neo Vongola Primo, not in this life. That was not his fate, just as it was not the fate of thousands, if not millions of other children named Sawada Tsunayoshi. Only one Tsuna could have a happy ending.

_Being jealous of yourself is an odd feeling._

Tsuna hadn’t always been like this. Once, he had ordinary dreams. That was until he brushed against the man with purple eyes.

_Tsuna had been distracted and clumsy. How was he to know how it would change his life?_

The first night, Tsuna dreamt of Reborn. Most, but not all, other worlds started with Reborn. Tsuna watched and lived through those Tsunas, those who were forged through fire and flame by the mafia. They would grow into men and women with wills of steel and families made of friends. All would be for naught, all would crack and die by Byakuran’s hands.

_Only one was different._

This ability to peek into parallel worlds wasn’t truly his. It was only borrowed from this world’s Byakuran, and Tsuna wasn’t sure if this Byakuran knew. But it truly didn’t matter, Tsuna knew. Only one Tsuna would survive intact, and Tsuna had watched that Tsuna grow into Neo Vongola Primo.

_He prayed to any gods listening, to his ancestors, to anyone who could make a difference, that his mother would be okay after all this was done. Many of his counterparts’ mothers had not been._

The first week Tsuna had skipped classes. On the first through third day, he told his mother that he was sick. On the fourth and fifth day, Tsuna had instead wandered to Kokuyo Land. Mukuro would not be here, but that was for the best. How could Tsuna explain himself?

_I dreamt of you and a girl you possessed being my friends, my family. You don’t know her or me, but both of you are family to me._

On the sixth day, Tsuna walked to Kawahira’s shop. He did not enter, did not pause, but walked past. What was there to say to Kawahira?

_Please, I know a way to continue the flames without anymore deaths. Please, we can stop all these deaths._

The seventh day was a Sunday, and Tsuna joined his mother grocery shopping. He had a limited time on this earth now, and he knew it. His mother deserved a child who loved her with all their heart. She also deserved to be loved with all his father’s heart, but his father loved Vongola and CEDEF too much. He could not blame his father for it. After all, Iemitsu did not know that soon enough he would die along with many others as Byakuran burned the world to the ground.

_A part of Tsuna blamed him anyway. If his father did not belong to the mafia, then his mother would have at least one living family member after all this was done._

The first day back to school, Tsuna was on time. He stared at the ground, and refused to look up while walking to class. He was bullied as usual, but he could not look up. How could he look at Kyoko or Yamamoto? How could he look at them, so young and innocent, and know that in so many worlds, he had signed their death warrants?

_He was thankful he was still in elementary school. Seeing Hibari and Ryohei would have made it even worse._

It took a month before Tsuna could walk normally through the hallways. He had already learned much of his classwork through his dreams, but it didn’t matter. Tsuna would never make it to high school. Less than one in ten of his counterparts survived to high school, and none lived long enough to take college tests.

_Neo Vongola Primo hadn’t gone to college either, but that was because he had a job lined up straight out of high school._

And so another school year passed, Tsuna continued to have no friends, continued to trip over nothing, continued to be bullied, and continued to dream. He went on to Namimori Middle to his mother’s delight, but not his own.

_One less year to live, one less year before he was hunted down by Byakuran and mercilessly killed, one more year of regrets._

Hibari was less glorious and violent than he remembered from his dreams, but that made him no less impressive. This Hibari had no regrets, he shamelessly did as he liked. His eyes were sharp and alert, not glazed and unmoving, no blood stains on his spotless clothing.

_Tsuna had cried in the bathroom stalls after seeing Hibari proudly walk down the halls. A man who had been a brother to him in so many short lifetimes, to a boy who didn’t care at all._

Ryohei’s extremity was welcome. He hadn’t attracted Ryohei’s attention, but once he stopped over at the classroom to give Kyoko something she had forgotten at home. The screams and sheer joy of life that Ryohei had would never change, never in any of Tsuna’s dreams had they diminished.

_Except the many times Kyoko died._

Tsuna knew that the time was coming near, the time when Reborn was most likely to barge his way into Tsuna’s life. He had always come in with the excuse of being Dame-Tsuna’s tutor, but this time, Tsuna had kept his grades mediocre. He pretended to his mother that he had friends that he was visiting, rather than haunting the ruins of Kokuyo Land.

_Even though the Anti Tri-ni-set radiation would always be set off, if Reborn stayed in Italy, he could live a little longer. Reborn deserved that much._

Tsuna supposed he wouldn’t meet Gokudera and Lambo in this world, but that was for the better. The further away everyone stayed, the longer their lives would be. All he had to do was watch out after Yamamoto after his arm broke, and they could live normal lifespans.

_Tsuna was willing to die alone and young, as long as his famiglia lived just a day longer. His heart was filled with his love for them, even if they never met him._

What Tsuna hadn’t expected was Yamamoto to demand to become Tsuna’s friend. Tsuna had been as succinct as possible when preventing Yamamoto’s suicide, but that was part of what was special about Yamamoto.

_That was part of what was special about all of his famiglia. Loyal idiots to the end._

Tsuna also hadn’t expected Yamamoto to be kidnapped. That had never happened in any of the other worlds, why would it happen here?

_Why hadn’t Tsuna been able to prevent it?_

Telling Hibari that someone had kidnapped one of the students of Namimori Middle had quickly gotten a response. Tsuna had barely been able to keep up to Hibari after he had made a few phone calls. The Disciplinary Committee was a masterpiece when it came to information gathering, apparently.

_It was kind of sweet to see Hibari get upset about his school. Too many worlds, it had been destroyed._

Hibari stopped at the warehouse district, and intuition told Tsuna which building to search.

_Intuition told Tsuna that this was the end._

“Tsunayoshi, good to finally see you with my own eyes.”

_Byakuran._

“Did you really think I wouldn’t notice what you have done?”

_Oh god._

“Thought you could save them, didn’t you? Staying out of the limelight, hoping I’d let you live this time.”

_No, I knew I wouldn’t._

“I did you a favor and brought most of your guardians here. I’m not too cruel, so I left the Lightning brat in Italy. Oh, and I left one of your Mist Guardians in the welcoming hands of the Vendice. But Hayato, Ryohei, Takeshi, and Kyoya are good enough, aren’t they?”

_I tried so hard this time._

“And most of them aren’t even your friends in this world! Only little Takeshi is your friend, and he’s not even a close one. Does he even know of the mafia?”

_I’m sorry mother, my time has come._

“Byakuran, I know this isn’t worth much, but I have an offer to make.”

_Please let him take it._

“Let them live, let them return to their normal lives, and you can kill me here and now.”

_I’m so sorry._

“And why shouldn’t I kill all of you here and now?”

_Please forgive me._

“Because I will use all of my Dying Will to fight you to the end. And while I know you will win, it won’t be an easy fight.”

_Yamamoto, don’t look at me like that. I can’t fight and win. There’s a difference between me and Neo Vongola Primo._

“They offer no threat to you gathering the Tri-Ni-Sette. There’s no reason to kill them. I’m the only threat here.”

_We may both be cowards, but only I have seen all of you die. I can’t stand to see my famiglia die._

Tsuna looked in Byakuran’s eyes, and Byakuran smiled. “If that’s what you want, Tsunayoshi. I’ll make it painless this time around.” His hand rose, and the mare ring began to glow.

_I wish I had never seen all the other parallel worlds. I wish I had been Neo Vongola Primo. I wish my family, my famiglia, did not have to cry. I’m so sorry._

The last thing Tsuna saw were dragons and the mare ring.

_I wish I could see all of you._


End file.
